Page 43 of A Very Monstrous Desire

“This is why you brought me here,” Theo continued. “To do this?”

“Yes.”

“You abducted me from my dimension to…alter me.”

“It is only a minor change,” Baku said.

“Minor how?” Theo demanded. “Will my skin turn purple as well?”

“Yes.”

“And the silvery glow?”

“Yes.”

Theo shook his head, remembering well how that silvery glow had looked under his fingers last night. God, if ever there had been a clear fucking example of post-nut clarity it was now!

“How does the serum even work?” he demanded even as he looked down at his own arms, imagining them being purple. “Does it alter DNA?”

Baku seemed to sigh. “No, DNA cannot be altered in that way.”

“Then—”

“It is entirely to do with frequencies. Your people are woefully behind on that area of science. Much can be altered by influencing that. It’s how the rips are formed after all.”

“By sound?”

“By something like that.”

“But it alters something, it alters me?”

“Yes.”

“Is it permanent?” Theo demanded.

“It is not meant to be.”

“But…”

“It could be over time, if enough doses are taken.”

Theo was aghast. “You don’t know?”

“We are still in the testing phase.”

That was all Theo needed to hear. Well, no, that wasn’t true, part munching monster had probably been enough. “I’m not doing it,” he said and there was finality to his voice that was unmistakable to anyone who knew him even a little bit…and after last night that included the monster.

Baku growled slightly before gesturing to the serum. “If you don’t, this mission will fail.”

Which made no sense and Theo quickly said as much! “You seem to have it covered off just fine. I mean look at you,” Theo added, gesturing to Baku’s bulk. “And you’ve taken the serum, right? The munchers will think you’re one of them and I assume that means you’ll be able to slip in and kill the queen?”

Baku nodded.

“And when the queen is dead, they all die, so you have it all sorted.” He paused. “I get that you want some back up, but I’m not your man. I don’t even know why you thought I would be!” He shook his head, becoming more animated with each word. “I didn’t even want to join the MDF. Didn’t want to be here at all. And doing something that fundamentally alters me? Becoming one of them…the munchers…” Theo took a few steps back, closing his fist around the serum. He was quite close to the door now, and it suddenly occurred to him that is ever there was a time to make a run for it, it was now. “I’m not doing it. No way.”

Baku might have sensed Theo’s newfound desire to flee as he too took a couple of steps forward, only with his longer legs he closed the distance between him and Theo quite quickly.

“The serum does not last long enough with me,” he said after a moment. “I am disguised from the nightmares for only a short time. It is not long enough for what we need to do.”

---